Changing Habits

Adopting good health habits is far easier than changing bad ones. It's much easier, for exam­ple, to refuse to start smoking than to give up a two-pack-a-day habit. As a teenager, you are beginning to form your own life style. The de­cisions you make now and the habits you form will affect your health for years to come.

But what about the millions of Americans whose life style already threatens their health? What chance do they have of changing the habits that harm them? Much depends on the individual and on the kind of support she or he receives. Given the right encouragement and the right environment, people can change deeply ingrained habits.

This is demonstrated by the nation's experi­ence with smoking. The Surgeon General's first Report on Smoking and Health came out in 1964. For the first time, Americans began to realize just how harmful cigarette smoking was. It is now estimated that more than 35 million Americans have successfully quit smoking.

Campaigns to prevent heart disease have also succeeded in making people change their habits. So have programs to control high blood pressure and to teach diabetics to take better care of themselves.

Public education has, then, achieved some success in making people change their habits. But there is still a long way to go. Millions of Americans, including over 6 million teenagers, continue to smoke. Over 15 million Americans have drinking problems. Obesity is widespread. And, despite the seeming mania for aerobics, jogging, and other forms of physical activity, millions of Americans get little or no exercise.

Good health is not hard to achieve, but it is easy to damage. By taking positive health ac­tion, you can enjoy a state of wellness for dec­ades. Neglect and abuse of the human body simply doesn't make sense.